The Brand Question at The Plaza Seoul
The Plaza Seoul suspended operations on 30 September 2026. Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, the operator, announced the closure on 19 August 2026. LoyaltyLobby reported the closure on 10 October 2026 and carries the Chosun Daily item beneath its own headline.
That headline reports the hotel as leaving Marriott’s Autograph Collection for The Leading Hotels of the World. The operator-sourced reports of 19 August 2026 carry the move as an application. Chosun Biz writes that the hotel “is also seeking to join The Leading Hotels of the World”. Seoul Economic Daily reads that it “is also pursuing membership in The Leading Hotels of the World”. Herald Business writes that the hotel is pursuing membership.
Marriott’s property page for THE PLAZA Seoul, Autograph Collection carries the closure and a plan to reopen in 2029. The page keeps the hotel inside the Autograph Collection name.
Deluxe Rooms Converted to Suites
The room plan replaces a deluxe-led inventory with suites. Chosun Daily reports the operator’s account of the change, and the wording is specific. Guest rooms previously centred on 30-square-metre deluxe rooms convert into suites, and workspaces go inside the rooms. The standard-room share falls.
The club lounge sits beside the room work. The operator raises its class and expands its floor area, and it gives the meeting-heavy guest as the reason. Seoul Economic Daily reports both moves within the 19 August announcement.
The Event Floor and the Grand Ballroom
The hotel’s published inventory runs to nine banquet halls that hold up to 600 guests in combination. The Grand Ballroom carries a capacity of 450. Xystum House offers panoramic views through full-length windows and takes private events. Hanwha’s release of 17 September 2015 sets out that count, and the company’s own feature page repeats it.
The 2010 refurbishment stands as the last comparable project. It ran about six months, from May to November, and it took in the room decor and furniture at the hands of the Italian designer Guido Ciompi. Hanwha dates it. The operator describes the current programme as the first full overhaul in 16 years.
The Dining Platform Beside The Plaza Dining
The operator recruits fine-dining restaurants into the reopening, including Michelin-starred venues, and it builds a culinary platform beside the existing The Plaza Dining. Chosun Biz and Herald Business both carry that plan.
The hotel’s current dining runs to The Seven Square, The Lounge and Boulangerie, The Plaza. Hanwha’s 2015 release names the Chinese, Japanese and Italian rooms the property opened under the Autograph agreement: Taoyuen, Murasaki and Tuscany, with Maurizio Ceccato in the Italian kitchen.
A Half Century on the Sogong-dong Site
The hotel opened in October 1976 and faces Seoul City Hall across Seoul Plaza. It sits beside Deoksugung Palace, inside the old city walls, among the Joseon palaces and within reach of the Myeongdong shopping district. Herald Business records that the Sogong-dong ground served as lodging for foreign envoys during the Joseon Dynasty and later as a gathering place for artists and intellectuals.
The closure falls in the hotel’s 50th year, and the operator frames the rebuild against that anniversary. The reopening year the operator gives is 2029.
The Guest Programme Before the Doors Shut
The hotel ran a farewell programme ahead of the closure. Under the name Memories of THE PLAZA, guests submitted photographs and stories of their stays through the hotel’s social channels or in person by 31 August. The hotel announced winners on 4 September. The prize was a Plaza Suite stay for use in September and items from the hotel’s private-brand P Collection line.
A second promotion offered up to 50 percent off at Boulangerie The Plaza, Seven Square, Gstum and selected guest rooms. Herald Business carries both items.
The Group Premium Push Around the Hotel
The rebuild sits inside a wider Hanwha Group programme. ANTO, the group’s resort below Bukhansan, has opened a poolside dining venue called Bueno Beach Club. Galleria, the group’s luxury department store, is pursuing a reconstruction led by the architect Thomas Heatherwick. Chosun Biz and Herald Business place the hotel work inside that pattern.
The Sogong redevelopment itself covers three buildings. The Plaza holds District 1, the Hanwha Building District 2 and the Hanwha Finance Plaza District 3. The operator keeps each structural frame and renovates all three.
What the Brand Record Does Not Settle
The operator’s own property material gives 408 rooms, six restaurants and bars and nine event spaces. The hotel’s brand page reads 319 rooms, nine event spaces, a fitness club and a spa. The two records do not print the same figure.
The operator states no budget for the work and no fixed reopening date. An application to The Leading Hotels of the World is not a signed affiliation, and Marriott’s page carries the hotel in the meantime.